Help with a shoulder pain...

Eric Fortier said:

Hi all!

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I had accute pain in my left shoulder
(about the anterior deltoid area) when performing certain movement.

I really didn't notice this pain before. It started very faint and increased
over time so I got used to it, until I re-started my training and noticed a
(minor) decrease in muscle mass on my left shoulder, and the fact that some
movements were painful.

Now, I've seen a doctor and he told me to take some advils... Advils, tylenol,
aspirins, none did anything. Not even numbing the pain.

You are leaving out the two other things your doctor told you.

He also told you to rest it, i.e., stop bench pressing, and to put ice
on it.

You're ignoring this advice because you don't want to hear it.

That's normal. Most of us here have done the same thing. Doesn't mean
it works for us, though.

You've got to rest your shoulder. You can trot it around to various
specialists, but in the end you're still going to have to try some
weeks/months of rest and ice.

Quoted message said:

I welcome any suggestion, and/or look forward to hear from people that have/had
the same type of problem.

My best suggestion is to get some good ice bags, the kind that don't
leak and have some handy nearly all the time. Ice is your friend.

Delenn

"Eric Fortier" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all!

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I had accute pain in my left
shoulder
(about the anterior deltoid area) when performing certain movement.

I really didn't notice this pain before. It started very faint and
increased
over time so I got used to it, until I re-started my training and
noticed a
(minor) decrease in muscle mass on my left shoulder, and the fact that
some
movements were painful.

Now, I've seen a doctor and he told me to take some advils... Advils,
tylenol,
aspirins, none did anything. Not even numbing the pain.

I'm pretty sure some of you guys and gals know what I'm talking
about... Here
is a brief list of symptoms in case anyone can help me out:

- First, I did not injure myself training or doing any physical
activities. I
didn't fall or break something. I work at a desk.

- I'm right-handed.

- I do not feel numb in the arm. I don't eat ANY fried food, I don't
drink and
don't smoke. Never had an operation. No heart problem.

- The pain seems to come and go. Fades somewhat when warming up the
muscles,
but is still present.

- Pain mainly located in the anterior deltoid area, but sometimes can
be felt
in the Pectoralis Major (Clavicular Head) area.

- Cold seems to intensify the pain.

- Loss of strength.

- Minor loss of muscle mass.

- Difficulty sleeping, pain wakes me up.

- Doing incline bench press with only 50 lbs is nearly impossible.
Flat bench
press is easier but still pretty painful, max of 100 lbs. Used to be
able to do
180+.

Here is a visual on the muscles I have problem with:

http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/DeltoidAnterior.html
http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/PectoralisClavicular.html

I welcome any suggestion, and/or look forward to hear from people that
have/had
the same type of problem.

"Any" suggestion? I suggest you grab a very light dumbbell or
kettlebell and try some Arnold Presses. See

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/DeltoidAnterior/DBArnoldPress.html

on the site you cited. I prefer them standing to sitting, and one arm
at a time but, well, whatever. Just start with something very light,
see how the motion feels, and work up from there.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Steve Freides said:

on the site you cited. I prefer them standing to sitting, and one arm
at a time but, well, whatever. Just start with something very light,
see how the motion feels, and work up from there.

hey, this is not a relevant followup, but ...

sorry I ended up missing Ridgewood. Running is pretty sluggish right now, so
canned the race. You had a chance to try out the NB XC flats yet ?

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

I had the same thing, and went to one of the best orthopedists around. This
guy's office looks like a shrine to sports. He has autographed "thank you"
pictures from so many major sports and entertainment personalities it is
mind-boggling. He did not tell me to rest. He said to avoid doing much
that caused severe pain. I did loads of rotator cuff and shoulder exercises
every day, and used light dbs and rubber bands. I also did the ice thing
twice a day. The physical therapist went from pretty easy to moderately
difficult. Here are some examples of stuff I did from exrx.net:
http://exrx.net/AnimatedEx/Infraspinatus/DBExternalRotation.gif
http://exrx.net/AnimatedEx/Subscapularis/CBInternalRotation.gif
http://exrx.net/AnimatedEx/DeltoidPosterior/DBLyingRearLateralRaise.gif

It took a while, and I did not feel fully healed until I went back to bench
presses again and did light reps and gradually built up. By that time, my
supporting muscles were probably much stronger than they had ever been.
FWIW I am convinced now that my injury occurred because of the relative
weakenss of those support muscles as compared to my pec and tri strength.

"Eric Fortier" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all!

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I had accute pain in my left

shoulder

Quoted message said:

(about the anterior deltoid area) when performing certain movement.

I really didn't notice this pain before. It started very faint and

increased

Quoted message said:

over time so I got used to it, until I re-started my training and noticed

a

Quoted message said:

(minor) decrease in muscle mass on my left shoulder, and the fact that

some

Quoted message said:

movements were painful.

Now, I've seen a doctor and he told me to take some advils... Advils,

tylenol,

Quoted message said:

aspirins, none did anything. Not even numbing the pain.

I'm pretty sure some of you guys and gals know what I'm talking about...

Here

Quoted message said:

is a brief list of symptoms in case anyone can help me out:

- First, I did not injure myself training or doing any physical

activities. I

Quoted message said:

didn't fall or break something. I work at a desk.

- I'm right-handed.

- I do not feel numb in the arm. I don't eat ANY fried food, I don't drink

and

Quoted message said:

don't smoke. Never had an operation. No heart problem.

- The pain seems to come and go. Fades somewhat when warming up the

muscles,

Quoted message said:

but is still present.

- Pain mainly located in the anterior deltoid area, but sometimes can be

felt

Quoted message said:

in the Pectoralis Major (Clavicular Head) area.

- Cold seems to intensify the pain.

- Loss of strength.

- Minor loss of muscle mass.

- Difficulty sleeping, pain wakes me up.

- Doing incline bench press with only 50 lbs is nearly impossible. Flat

bench

Quoted message said:

press is easier but still pretty painful, max of 100 lbs. Used to be able

to do

Quoted message said:

180+.

Here is a visual on the muscles I have problem with:

http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/DeltoidAnterior.html
http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/PectoralisClavicular.html

I welcome any suggestion, and/or look forward to hear from people that

have/had

Quoted message said:

the same type of problem.

Thanks!

--Eric

"Donovan Rebbechi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Steve Freides said:

on the site you cited. I prefer them standing to sitting, and one
arm
at a time but, well, whatever. Just start with something very light,
see how the motion feels, and work up from there.

hey, this is not a relevant followup, but ...

No problem - this is mfw, where relevance seems to be strictly optional,
anyway. 🙂

Quoted message said:

sorry I ended up missing Ridgewood. Running is pretty sluggish right
now, so
canned the race. You had a chance to try out the NB XC flats yet ?

Sorry to hear you missed the race. I had a busy day - bicycle paced the
wheelchair racers in the 10k, came home, got into running clothes, and
did the 5k with my 8-year-old who, I'm pleased to say, was the fastest
8-year-old among the 16 of them, 8 boys and 8 girls, who did the race.
I ran right alongside him the entire time, and it was the first time
he'd covered this much distance non-stop. He got a 28:07 chip time,
about 9:05 per mile pace. Without my knowledge, my wife gave my
12-year-old son a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to eat an hour before
the race, and he puked at about the 2-mile mark but still managed to
finish in 24-something, slower than last year's 22-something, and my
wife ran the course as well, finished a few minutes behind our
8-year-old and me.

I've been running very little but what I'm doing I'm doing in those XC
flats you recommended, and I'm very happy with them. Thanks again for
the suggestion of the shoe and where to get it. I bought two pair which
should keep me for a good long time.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Quoted message said:

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

One more thing by way of encouragement: A few weeks after the soreness went
away, I beat my personal best in bench press by 20 lbs.

"jeff" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I had the same thing, and went to one of the best orthopedists around.

This

Quoted message said:

guy's office looks like a shrine to sports. He has autographed "thank

you"

Quoted message said:

pictures from so many major sports and entertainment personalities it is
mind-boggling. He did not tell me to rest. He said to avoid doing much
that caused severe pain. I did loads of rotator cuff and shoulder

exercises

Quoted message said:

every day, and used light dbs and rubber bands. I also did the ice thing
twice a day. The physical therapist went from pretty easy to moderately
difficult. Here are some examples of stuff I did from exrx.net:
http://exrx.net/AnimatedEx/Infraspinatus/DBExternalRotation.gif
http://exrx.net/AnimatedEx/Subscapularis/CBInternalRotation.gif
http://exrx.net/AnimatedEx/DeltoidPosterior/DBLyingRearLateralRaise.gif

It took a while, and I did not feel fully healed until I went back to

bench

Quoted message said:

presses again and did light reps and gradually built up. By that time, my
supporting muscles were probably much stronger than they had ever been.
FWIW I am convinced now that my injury occurred because of the relative
weakenss of those support muscles as compared to my pec and tri strength.

"Eric Fortier" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi all!

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I had accute pain in my left

shoulder

Quoted message said:

(about the anterior deltoid area) when performing certain movement.

I really didn't notice this pain before. It started very faint and

increased

Quoted message said:

over time so I got used to it, until I re-started my training and

noticed

Quoted message said:

a

Quoted message said:

(minor) decrease in muscle mass on my left shoulder, and the fact that

some

Quoted message said:

movements were painful.

Now, I've seen a doctor and he told me to take some advils... Advils,

tylenol,

Quoted message said:

aspirins, none did anything. Not even numbing the pain.

I'm pretty sure some of you guys and gals know what I'm talking about...

Here

Quoted message said:

is a brief list of symptoms in case anyone can help me out:

- First, I did not injure myself training or doing any physical

activities. I

Quoted message said:

didn't fall or break something. I work at a desk.

- I'm right-handed.

- I do not feel numb in the arm. I don't eat ANY fried food, I don't

drink

Quoted message said:

and

Quoted message said:

don't smoke. Never had an operation. No heart problem.

- The pain seems to come and go. Fades somewhat when warming up the

muscles,

Quoted message said:

but is still present.

- Pain mainly located in the anterior deltoid area, but sometimes can be

felt

Quoted message said:

in the Pectoralis Major (Clavicular Head) area.

- Cold seems to intensify the pain.

- Loss of strength.

- Minor loss of muscle mass.

- Difficulty sleeping, pain wakes me up.

- Doing incline bench press with only 50 lbs is nearly impossible. Flat

bench

Quoted message said:

press is easier but still pretty painful, max of 100 lbs. Used to be

able

Quoted message said:

to do

Quoted message said:

180+.

Here is a visual on the muscles I have problem with:

http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/DeltoidAnterior.html
http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/PectoralisClavicular.html

I welcome any suggestion, and/or look forward to hear from people that

have/had

Quoted message said:

the same type of problem.

Thanks!

--Eric

In article <[email hidden]>,

Eric Fortier said:

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I had accute pain in my left shoulder
(about the anterior deltoid area) when performing certain movement.

You might want to visit a practitioner of Active Release Therapy. A
good one (and all the ones I know of are good) will tell you
immediately if he can't help, or what's wrong and how much treatment
will be required.

Seth
--
chown -R us /yourbase

Hey Jeff, thanks for the reply.

I'll try the exercise you describe, as the ice and Advils alone do not help at
all. I thought it was a tendinitis, but that would have shown improvement in
24-48 hours af the ice/Advil treatment I was told.

And if that doesn't work, I guess I'll start hunting for the right medic 😉

BTW, how long was it from the time you visited the orthopedist to the time the
pain started to fade?

Thanks again,

Eric
http://www.tlnewsreader.com

-------- Original Message --------

Quoted message said:

I had the same thing, and went to one of the best orthopedists around. This
guy's office looks like a shrine to sports. He has autographed "thank you"
pictures from so many major sports and entertainment personalities it is
mind-boggling. He did not tell me to rest. He said to avoid doing much
that caused severe pain. I did loads of rotator cuff and shoulder exercises
every day, and used light dbs and rubber bands. I also did the ice thing
twice a day. The physical therapist went from pretty easy to moderately
difficult. Here are some examples of stuff I did from exrx.net:
http://exrx.net/AnimatedEx/Infraspinatus/DBExternalRotation.gif
http://exrx.net/AnimatedEx/Subscapularis/CBInternalRotation.gif
http://exrx.net/AnimatedEx/DeltoidPosterior/DBLyingRearLateralRaise.gif

It took a while, and I did not feel fully healed until I went back to bench
presses again and did light reps and gradually built up. By that time, my
supporting muscles were probably much stronger than they had ever been.
FWIW I am convinced now that my injury occurred because of the relative
weakenss of those support muscles as compared to my pec and tri strength.

Eric Fortier said:

Hi all!

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that I had accute pain in my left shoulder
(about the anterior deltoid area) when performing certain movement.

I really didn't notice this pain before. It started very faint and increased
over time so I got used to it, until I re-started my training and noticed a
(minor) decrease in muscle mass on my left shoulder, and the fact that some
movements were painful.

Now, I've seen a doctor and he told me to take some advils... Advils, tylenol,
aspirins, none did anything. Not even numbing the pain.

I'm pretty sure some of you guys and gals know what I'm talking about... Here
is a brief list of symptoms in case anyone can help me out:

- First, I did not injure myself training or doing any physical activities. I
didn't fall or break something. I work at a desk.

- I'm right-handed.

- I do not feel numb in the arm. I don't eat ANY fried food, I don't drink and
don't smoke. Never had an operation. No heart problem.

- The pain seems to come and go. Fades somewhat when warming up the muscles,
but is still present.

- Pain mainly located in the anterior deltoid area, but sometimes can be felt
in the Pectoralis Major (Clavicular Head) area.

- Cold seems to intensify the pain.

- Loss of strength.

- Minor loss of muscle mass.

- Difficulty sleeping, pain wakes me up.

- Doing incline bench press with only 50 lbs is nearly impossible. Flat bench
press is easier but still pretty painful, max of 100 lbs. Used to be able to do
180+.

Here is a visual on the muscles I have problem with:

http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/DeltoidAnterior.html
http://www.exrx.net/Muscles/PectoralisClavicular.html

I welcome any suggestion, and/or look forward to hear from people that have/had
the same type of problem.

Thanks!

--Eric

Full disclosure: IANAMD.

Torn rotator cuff. I have two (now healing nicely). From what you're
saying, it is not a bad tear. You will get better. It may get worse
before it gets better.

Recovery may not be 100% but I got 80-90% of my strength and range of
motion back over the last two years (left side); six months (right
side). And I had a *much* worse tear than you are describing.

See your doc. He may prescribe physical therapy, and he may prescribe
meds (such as Celebrex). An MRI will be required to fully diagnose.

Pain while sleeping will take longer to resolve. Sorry.

Good luck. Larry